Amazon.com
Breaking the mold of previous "Walking with" offerings, the BBC's Walking with Cavemen sees Professor Robert Winston follow in the footsteps of ancient man in a series that traces the history of humanity from bipedal ape-men (Australopithecus Aphaeresis) to the awakening of the human mind's potential with Homo Erectus. Over four fascinating half-hour installments, Wilson presents an accessible and populist, but still suitably anthropological study on how apes became human and the traits that we inherited from our earliest ancestors.

Unlike Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Beasts, Cavemen combines CGI with actors to portray the characters in the story of man. Initially this seems to make it far less technically impressive than the earlier programs--memories of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 are inevitable--but fortunately the acting is superb and the viewer soon forgets that these are people in monkey suits. The series also makes use of a special effect called "deep time-lapse", which shows in a matter of dramatic seconds the thousands of years of geological changes that sped up our ancestors' evolution. Wilson himself takes part in the action as if he is a modern-day naturalist following lions across the Serengeti rather than creatures long extinct. This approach makes for a more immediate as well as poignant interpretation of history: the result is an enlightening and moving tribute to the human journey. --Kristen Bowditch

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 28 reviews)

I loved this video

If you only have the cash to buy one video of the history of Human evolution, this is the one. Very entertaining and educational with realistic looking pre-humans and environment. BBC spared no expense on this.
December 12, 2007

Very well produced...

I purchased this for a college Historical Geology class a few years ago. Very, very well-produced and informative. Highly recommended.
December 03, 2007

Finest and most honest depiction of our evolution.

I have never viewed a more compelling and scientifically supported view of life prior to recorded history. This is not a children's movie, it is fact based and as a result there is brief nudity and some violence. To disregard the how's and why's of our climb to become the most dominant creature the planet has ever know would be a watered down piece of fluff. We are the only creature this planet has ever supported that is capable of adapting our needs to any environment as well as adapting our environment to meet our needs.
September 05, 2007

The Neanderthal of this Excellent Series

We got this while still buzzed from Walking With the Dinosaurs. The buzz ended quickly. The actors playing the cave people look just like that--modern day actors playing cave people. I can just see the director saying,"Blake, you're hungry! You're tired! You just killed the mammoth and must carry meat back to your mate! Makeup--he needs more grime!". It's bearable the first time you watch it, but then you spend the next time through hoping that some big predator will leap into the scene and crunch them all so you don't have to watch it again. Our resident dinosaur expert watched it once, took it back to the library and never wanted to get it again (thank you, thank you!). Having now watched Walking With the Dinosaurs at least sixty times, I can definitely tell you to save your pennies & get a different DVD.
July 25, 2007

Origins of Man

Excellent BBC documentary on the origins of man. It is unique in that it shows us very precisely where we came from and how we survived over hundreds of thousands of years ago. Beautifully made. Some Christians though, who do not accept evolution, may be offended by the film.
May 19, 2007

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